Method of treating ores.



H. A. HUGE-L.

METHOD OF TREATING 0112s.

' APPLICATION IILED JULY 27. 1.905. RENEWED NOV.23, 1908. 927,046, Patented July 6, 1909.

4 SHEETS-BHEET 1.

j/vinta e 2% W 6) {7?09217524 H. A. HOGEL.

METHOD OF TREATING OBBSP APPLICATION FILED JULY 27, 1905'. RENEWED N0v.2s, 19os 927,046. Patented July 6, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 o uuenl'oz H. A. HOGEL.

METHOD OF TREATING ORES. APPLICATION FILED JULY 27, 1905. RENEWED NOV.28, 1908.

927,046, Patented July 6, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

alkwnugsi H. A. HOGEL.

METHOD OF TREATING ORES.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 27, 1905. RENEWED NOXKZS 1903.

927,046. Patentd Ju1y 6,1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

' ismi, siivci, and gold, aitlmugii to iitiiizi this is,

ijfifiliiiiiiiiiili iIAiiCJiL A. iiOGisfii, Oi N EW YORK, Y.

N0, iir jiiczitimi filed Jiuiy 23?, 1905,

stats i1 new siiii PW i, :tiuxis iii Limiting by iiuciz'iii': 21in: in]. {wring to i. iintiiiii iii/bites to impiii'vsiiisii'ts in nwtiimi. i 1 ins in": and is ii'iiii'iiy 11s signed L0 in it mil rztui'y sui'i'iii ores, mots sspscinii i i'iiz'iss containing SL'iiliiii-S of iii'oii, is not 1'0 stg'ictcii tii such ores, as an}; 01's, mi matter how C-OliiPiUX and is ,,-"i01' 'y', #sii be success i uiiy ti-sitteii by my process and pi. tii 0i tbs vs iiiiibis sonsti tut-111s than 511" (mi iii'i'im email other and ssvmi,

iiiiy process depends upon Lin; heat, sulfur, oxygiiii and suit, :LS iismmziitsr iiesci-ibmi, upon this ores and sont pistes thev PlOiiliQiliUU of cbim'iiis of some iii limtziis (:m'itainsii iii the (i1' i, i1i.l) voiiitii tion of the ciiirii-iiis so formed, and, the. com iiiiiisittinn, siapzti'ziiimi. and recovery (if ti". shim-ids, the uid Ewing: i'iiicnviiriiii 5151 time pi: metal, the Siifii' its soiiii ?ili(i i 'i(i 0i siivm', I supper iii SUiUiiUli iiiiiii iii 0;: sulfate and the ifiiftii 21S swiiii siiiizitii oi 20M, this i mm:- pmiiiiis i'uiiiisiibiing (353i rsi'iiici dinning time pm 130 nwtiis, SiiVJl, so} ieitki.

it is wail known that man siiioriiis can be quits easily vuisyiiiiszmi by the proper amount of innit and nuts :tti :i'iiyts iisi 's basin manict to i-scm si n'i ctsis from i i'i'f ct ii-y (in-is, but, so its its ii iu'imi', iiii tbssu sfi'iiits im'v bsiii Giiilffl practical IEl-iiUIUS, when niiiii iipijsii m be (LillliQ-(i nut on a coin-- momiiii semis, 01 iii ii'GlILiGLi wi s0 much expense as in be 'pi'wiiibiiioii b30311 use. One

i'easgin for these failures, and the chief mm, in.

my opinion, W :iiH iinpiissibiiity iii ubtainmg suitable and m'iomical Instiimis mid 'itpps-iatus i013condensing the vnistilized W thin 05? 33st stent. Patented July 6, 1909.

. Navember 33, 1908. serial No. 464,980.

in the accompanying di-mvings, which iiiusi'iitts one form of apparatus forcsrrying out 1113 .im side eieviztioii oi the furnace and of my sppsmlius. Fig. 2 is :1V side View of my 0011 (l aising appaistus. Fig. 3 is an and View of the parts shown in Fig. 1, looking from thr isfi; of this :iigurs. 0i tbs furnace 01 His, parts being broken away. ii is a, :i'oss section of one of the furnaces, sud i ig. @is an snii'irged horizontal section of one of the 'LSPiltbOl'S.

in a strong frame, prsi'e-mbiy made of iron or SiQ-Qi, ms momiied any desired number of furnaces I), 0, (Z, and a, four being shown on the drawing. This frame is composed of up right and posts a, cross beams f,'with comer braces 9 between. said posts and. beams, cantci posts l t, and (iiagmmi bmes '8, the WhOiG' forming it rigid structure in. which the furimcss and uiihsir aris srs hie-Med. In Fig. 3 insiinsd sids bracing beams areshown '01); one side of the main frame and these may be used (in both sides The various pi size, are SUPPUltQd in 01' 011 said. frame or extsnsions chm-mil.

7 i: represents it hoppni' int-(i wiiiclh th gmiimi raw 01's is Fed, From the bottom Of this hopper the 0m fed iiioiiq" by the spiral opiwsysr m, driven by it bait 01' s'irocket ch "ii passing over the pulley 01' Wheei n, and tiisii (ii'C-PS through the pipe Zinto the higher and of the upper inclined fi initoe, Where it is roasted, the spiral convoyer, packed with fine, om, acting as a stop to prevent the ga-sesfrom passing out through the hopper. I The are iinsiy pulverized. before it is fed into the imppez is, preferably so that it will pass through a 40 mesh sievs.

Each of the fuimi-ces'is composed of a shell 0, made of iron 0] steel, composed of sections baited together, Fig. 5, and lined with it fire brick construction, siteriizitc rows being the ordinary curved fire brick and the intermediate rows being nearly triangular in cross s01, tion, as shown at 29111 Fig. 5, which serve as shelves to lift the ore from whence it is spiiied down to the bottom 01 the furnace, thus insuring a, thorough stirring of the, ore;

Fig, 4 is at, section of one of said frame, ifdOSiIBd." ass, hoppers, driving devices,

wowed method:--Figure 1 is furnaces.

some distance from the main frame.

In the furnace f) the ore-is roasted, to drive off the larger part of the sulfur, incident ally forming 2 small percentage of sulfates of some of the metals present. ldo not attempt, however, carry this roasting operation to a dead roast, for in such a case, it would be necessary to add more sulfur as a small per centage of sulfur is needed to perfectly carry out my method. v

To one end of the furnace 11' is attached a discharge pipe q, provided with a valve r, which pipe leads into a pipe ssupported on the top of the main frame, which pipe leads away the sulfurous acid gas to a sulfuric acid plant (not shown) in which this gas is saved.

The furnaces b, c, d, e are similar in structure but are inclined in opposite direclirms, Fig. 1., and located in opposite angles of the main. frame, Fig. 3, and they are all continuously revolved, the ore slowly travels from the hopper c back and. forth through the furnaces until it is finally disi'zhargcd through the pipe t, which is preferably provided with a screw conveyer (not shown) or similar device, to prevent any of the volatilized material from escaping theretln-ough and going to waste, though this is not ahsolutely necessary. Each furnace is provided with a plurality of flanges a, Fig. 5, each of which rests in two grooved rollers 1). Each furnace may be provided. with the usual rack, with which a gear wheel, such as w, engages, or it may be revolved by turning one of the rollers '0. These rollers and wheels are all mounted on inclined shafts, such as a, to correspond with the inclination of the respective Any suitable means .l'or'rotating these furnaces may be used. I have shown, for the lower two furnaces d and c, a shaft y, mounted in one of the posts it and having a gear Wheel 2, which meshes with the gear wheel 1 on the shaft which rotates the furnace e, a sprocket wheel 2, connected by a sprocket chain (not shown) with the sprocket wheel 3 on the driving shaft for the furnace (Z, and a sprocketwheel 4, which. is driven. by sprocket chain (not shown) from a point The means shown for rotating the furnaces I) and c are similar in structure.

Into the. upper end of the furnace 0 salt is delivered, by' means of the hopper 5, screw conveyer 6 and pipe 7, similar in structure to the corresponding parts already described. Instead, however, of using the furnace b as a roasting furnace, I may use it as a volatilizing furnace, if desired, like the furnaces .c, d and e, the roasting being done in a separate, detached furnace, in which case the ground. and roasted ore, mixed with the proper percentage of salt, would be fed into the hopper k and the hopper 5 dispensed with.

From the discharge end of the furnace 7) the roasted ore is delivered through the inclined pipe 8 into the receiving end of the furnace 0, being mixed with salt, as it enters.

In this furnace c, the formation of volatile chlorids begins and under the action of heat, sulfur, salt and oxygen (air being blown into the furnace, as hereinafter described) the reactions take place which eventually turn practically all the gold, silver, lead, and copper present into chlorids, which are volatilized. Some small part of the lead and copper goes over into the condenser as sulfates and sulfurous and sulfuric acids are also formed in small quantities, all of which, together with the volatile chlorids go over into the condenser.

Any suitable means for heating the furnaces may be employed. It is desirable though not strictly necessary to provide the furnaces with a protective covering, to prevent the iron shells from being too much affected by the heat. To heat the furnaces, they may be iucased in a brick structure built around and inside of the main frame, suitable openings being provided for the pipes, driving means, hopper pipes, 630. A heating furnace is connected with this structure and the hot gases led into the base thereof whence they rise, mostly in a zigzag line, owing to the location of the furnaces and are discharged through a suitable flue or flues into a chimney. For the sake of clearness, however, the heating means is not shown.

Each of the furnaces is revoluble but the ends thereof are stationary, one of these ends (an inlet end) being shown in detail in Fig. 4. It consists of a metal cylinder 9, closed at one end and provided with a lining 10 of fire brick or other refractory material. It is also provided witl'i an inclined shelf 12, to conduct the ore, falling from the furnace next above it, well into the end of the furnace. A brace 13 holds this shelf firmly. The furnace does not touch the end or cap 9 but is separated from it by an annular space 11 and to prevent any volatile material from escaping through this space, instead of going over into the condenser, a steady current of air or oxygen is blown through this annular s ace, supplying the oxygen needed for the c 16111- ical reactions,preventing the volatile material from escaping and going to waste and creating a slight air pressure in the furnace, which aids in forcing the volatilized material into the condenser. 'lo effect these results an annular, flaring flange 14 is bolted onto the open end. of the end or cap 9 and to this flange isboltcd acurved annular piece 15, to which. in turn is bolted the annularpioce 16, the parts 15 and 16 being brought nearly together at their free edges, thus forming an annular tube provided with a narrow annular delivery slot, Fig. 4. The part 16 is provided with an annular flange 17 which comes close to, but not in contact with, the shell of the furnace and with. a shoulder 18 with which one edge of the piece 15 engages. The annular tube *thus from t 1e condensing apparatus as a metal.

Some of the gold settles in the bottom of the tank 41 which is therefore provided with a discharge pipe 60 having a stop cook 61. Some of it goes over into the second tank 47 and is discharged through the pipe 58, being separated from the lead and silver com pounds in the usual way. It will thus be seen that practically all the lead, copper, gold and silver that is volatilized in the fur nace part of my apparatus is condensed and collected in the conden ing end thereof, the result being the saving of practically all of these metals at a slight expense; If the ore contains zinc, this may be practically eliminated during the roasting operation and the zinc may be recovered or may be thrown away, as circumstances dictate. The iron, which is discharged through the pipe t at the end of the lowest furnace e, is either fine metallic iron or else a magnetic oxid. Both of these can be readily separated from the gangue and waste by a magnetic separator, and the iron can then be recovered as metallic iron in the usual way. Many ores, however, contain toosmall percentages of iron and zinc to warrant the saving of these metals, especially in localities where labor, fuel, etc. are high, as is the case in many sections where these complex refractory sullid ores occur. The iron and zinc are therefore either saved or thrown away, as circumstances dictate.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The improved method of treating refractory ores which consists in subjecting the same to the action of heat in. the presence of air, mixing sulfur therewith (unless there is enough sulfur in the ore) mixing salt therewith, heating the mixture in the presence of air to a degree sufficient to volatilize the metals or other compounds which it is desired to recoveiypassing the volatilized products into a condenser containing a liquid, intimately mixing said volatile products with said liquid and with air, causing the liquid to repeatedly pass through the condenser, al-

lowing the ('xcess of air to escape from said liquid during its passage, cooling the liquid at one period of its passage through a part of said condenser, collecting the solid products deposited in said liquid, and treating the liquid and solid products to obtain the metals,

lead, copper, silver, and gold in the usual way, substantially as described.

2. The method of treating refractory ores which consists in roasting them, volatilizing certain of the metals contained in the ores or their compounds, intimately mixing the volatilized product with air and water in a condenser, repeatedly circulating said Water through the condenser in order to saturate it with the soluble compounds that have been volatilized, allowing the excess of air to escape from said water during its passage through the condenser, cooling the water at one period during its passage through the condenser, and finally separating the solid and liquid products in the condenser from each other and obtaining the metals therefrom in the usual way, substantially as described.

3. The method of treating refractory ores which consists in volatilizing some of the metals contained in the ore or other compounds, intimately mixing the volatilized products with air and water in a condenser, repeatedly circulating waterthrough said condenser, allowing the excess of air to escape from the water during its passage through said condenser, cooling the water one part of the time when it is passing through said condenser, drawing oil the solid and liquid products collected in said condenser after the water has been repeatedly passed through the same, and recovering the metals from the solid and liquid products in the usual way, substantially as describedf 4. In the treatment of refractory ores, the step of obtaining volatilized products which consists in roasting said ore in the presence of air, adding salt thereto, heating and stirring said mixture under the influence of air, and passfhg the volatilized products into a condenser containing a liquid, intimately mixing said products with said liquid and with air, and finally collecting the products and treating the same to recover the metals, substantially as described.

5. In the treatment of refractory ores, the step of obtaining volatilized products which consists in roasting said ore in the presence ofair, adding salt and sulfur thereto, heating and stirring said mixture under the influence of air, and passing the volatilized.products into a condensercontaining a liquid, intimately mixing said products withsaid liquid and with air, and finally collecting the products-and. treating the same to recover the metals, substantially as described. 7

6. The method of treating ores, which consists in roasting them, volatilizing certain of the metals contained in the ores or their compounds, subjecting the volatilized product to a preliminary cooling, intimately mixing said product with air and water in a 0011- denser, repeatedly circulating said water throu h said condenser in order to. saturate heating and stirrin said mixture under the 10 it, anc finally separating the solid and liquid influence of air, su stantially as described. product in the condenser from each other Intestimony WhereoLIaffiX my signature, and obtainin the metals therefom in the in presence of two witnesses."

I: usual way, sii bstantially as described. HASCAL. A HOGEL 7. In the treatment of refractory ores, the step of obtaining vo-latilized products which Witnesses: (-onsists in roasting said ore in the presence SJMf-PAyLING, of air, adding salt and sulfur thereto, and L. F. DAVIEs. 

